7 Reasons You Don’t Have to Feel Fashion Week #FOMO

share it

Today’s the day! After a few smaller runway shows and parties yesterday, New York Fashion Week is officially in full swing. The next seven days in Manhattan, at least for anyone remotely associated with the fashion industry, will be a non-stop flurry of shows, events, coffee runs, #ootds, and making sure you snap the perfect Instagram shots.

For those of us who don’t live in New York City, this can all lead to one huge, festering case of #FOMO. For those of you over the age of, say, 17, #FOMO stands for “fear of missing out.” NYFW, along with other Fashion Weeks, has a bad tendency to make people not attending feel like they’re majorly missing out on all the festivities—after all, if you’re not sitting right behind Grace Coddington at the Marc Jacobs show on Thursday, what are you doing?

Well, we’re here to let you in on a big secret: NYFW ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Keep scrolling for seven solid reasons there’s no need to experience #FOMO this time around!

1 of 7

Back in the day, Fashion Weeks used to be even more exclusive than they are now, with only the most powerful of editors, buyers, and stylists invited. But in the past few years or so, this exclusivity has been watered down in service of having as many huge names (celebrities and bloggers especially) attend as possible. The results: Every show is at capacity, and most parties are too. This negatively impacts most people’s enjoyment of the experience, as you can imagine.

2 of 7

If you aren’t going to Fashion Week, you probably only have to deal with the mild-moderate foot pain associated with the heels you wear to work. As editors run from show to show, struggle to catch cabs, and even sometimes (gasp) take the subway, the pain they experience from uncomfortable shoes grows exponentially, often with few or no opportunities for relief. Be thankful you are not one of them.

3 of 7

One of the most unspoken experiences people have during Fashion Week is malnutrition—and it’s not exactly insignificant. The constant go-go-go without much downtime often results in skipping breakfast and lunch, and having liquid dinners of wine, cocktails, and small hors d'oeuvres at parties isn’t uncommon.

4 of 7

You might think that all the less-savory parts of Fashion Week are tolerable because the shows are just so awesome, right? Well, it’s true, the shows are hands down the best part of going to Fashion Week. Sometimes you see clothes on the runway that are so beautiful they take your breath away—but before you know it, the show is over. Most shows last 15 minutes at most, and as glorious as those 15 minutes are, it often just leaves you wanting more.

5 of 7

The world’s most stylish humans descend upon New York, Paris, London, and Milan during Fashion Month—and if you’re in attendance, you are around them. On the one hand, this is exciting, because who doesn’t want to see Anna Della Russo and all her flamboyance in the flesh? On the other hand, the pressure to look chic is impossibly enormous. Anyone who claims they don’t really care what others think of their outfits during Fashion Week is probably lying.

6 of 7

One of the omnipresent elements of any modern-day Fashion Week is street style photography; whether you want to or not, you will be photographed. Even if you purposely dress under the radar to avoid being snapped, you still might land in the background of a photo taken of someone else. If you’re uncomfortable being in candid photographs, Fashion Week is definitely, definitely not for you.

7 of 7

Here’s the real kicker: There’s no reason to feel FOMO over missing Fashion Week because you can see everything online anyway. With the ubiquity of Instagram and Twitter, you can see the same runway shows all the editors see, at the same time they see them—and sometimes, from a better vantage point! Many brands live-stream their shows, plus lots of editors live-Instagram from their seats. Just keep handy our list of the folks you should really be following this NYFW, and you’re all set!